Vehicle-tire.



J. D. CRAFT.

VEHICLE TIRE.

APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 23,

Patented July 14, 1914.

JOHN D. CRAFT, OF EVANSVILLE, INDIANA.

VEHICLE-TIRE.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN D. CRAFT, a citizenof the United States, and a resident of the city of Evansville, in thecounty of Vanderburg and State of Indiana, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Vehicle-Tires, of which the follow-' ing is afull, clear, and exact description, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

My invention relates to metallic tires for vehicle wheels and itsespecial object is to provide a construction in which the surfacebetween the felly and the tire may be effectively and permanently sealedfrom the entrance of air, moisture and dirt, and thus the life of thewheel greatly prolonged.

One of the chief difficulties met with in the ordinary vehicle wheelconstructions is the tendency of the tire to separate from the woodenfelly on account of the shrinkage of the felly when in use due to theswelling and expansion of the wooden rim when exposed to the elementsand the subsequent shrinking of the wood as it dries out. To preventthis, tires have always been shrunk on the rim, either by the very oldmethod of welding the tire band of the size to give the proper dish tothe wheel and to firmly and rigidly grasp the rim when in place, then byexpanding the tire with heat and slipping it over the rim and thencontracting it with a cold water bath, to shrink it to place, or by themore modern method of constructing the tire of a size to slip over therim when cold, and then with a tire shrinker, mechanically upsetting andcontracting the band into place.

The more ordinary vehicle tire is a metallic band, rectangular in crosssection, which is shrunk in place by either of the methods abovedescribed, and is then held in place by a series of bolts or rivetsthrough the rim and felly, usually a bolt or rivet between each spoke.weaken the rim. That they are necessary demonstrates the inefficiency ofmerely shrinking over the rim a flat tire rectangular in cross section.Such tires ultimately allow dirt and moisture to creep in between thetire and rim, causing undue swelling and expansion and the subsequentundueshrinkage upon drying out, which loosens up the tire. The wear onthe flat rectangular tire is also at the edges grinding down andthinning the tire, wearing ofl the paint Specification of LettersPatent.

The bolt holes necessarily Patented July 14, 1914..

Application filed August 23, 1912. Serial No. 716,640;

on the sides of the rim and exposing the wood more and more to theelements.

Efforts have been made to avoid the effects of wear on the edges of thetire by making the tire thicker at the edges with a consequentperipheral concavity for the outer surface, and internal peripheralchannels or grooves have been formed in the under surface of the tire toallow for a free .air circulation, which later construction is supposedto prevent the detrimental effect of moisture seeping in between tireand rim. Inwardly projecting flanges to engage the side edges of the rimhave also been employed with such constructions, but the locking effectof the flanges is a detriment to the air circulation in the passages andthese passages would seem to be convenient channels for the accumula-tion of dirt and moisture, which, as above stated, it is theespecial object of my invention to avoid. Moreover with the olderconstructions of flanged tires, the hammer-- ing of the road wears downthe tire, and the blows are distributed over the entire width of thetire. The effect of this is to stretch the metal. transversely and.widens the space between the flanges. The flanges come away from thesides of the felly or tend to spread out. Moisture is allowed to creepin underneath the tire which rusts the tire and rots the wood of thefelly, thus rapidly loosening the tire and shortening the life of thewheel.

My invention entirely abandons the theory that the loosening of the tirecan be avoided by providing air passages between tire and rim, and asalready stated, consists of that novel construction to be hereinafterpointed out and claimed whereby a tight and intimate contact ismaintained between the parts by the use of projecting flanges to lockover the sides of the felly and by shaping the wearing surface of thetire to bring the wear upon the central portion and away from the sideedges. The hammering of the road material takes effect more directlyalong the median line, and by reason of the thickness of the metal, theouter surface alone of the metal is stretched or pushed transversely.This stretching of the outer surface manifests itself on the flanges,and instead of spreading outwardly, they are turned inwardly causing theflanges to bite more effectively the sides of the felly and thus tobecome tighter with use.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of a vehicle wheel withmy improved.

tire. ig. 2 is a cross sectional view of a portion of the felly andtire. Fig. 3 is a sectional perspective view of a portion of the andwooden felly or rim 8, upon which is shrunk my improved metallic tire 4.The

tire is formed with a channel 5, wit-h slightly flaring sides 6 toprovide side flanges 7, 7, to engage over the side edges of the felly.The outer contour of the tire is of oval or rounded shape, forming atire gradually increasing in thickness fromthe sides to the middleportion as shown in the sectional view. The tire is seated on the rim byany of the methods now in use, but preferably with a tire shrinker, sothat the tire is formed of a size to allow it to be slipped or forcedover the rim while cold, and with "a tire shrinker themetal band isupset and compressed tightly over the rim to give the proper dish to thewheel and to lock the tire I of the felly and prevent the entrance ofdirt firmly and securely in place. A perfectly tight joint is thusformed over the side edges f of thejfelly, impervious to moisture andthe 5 attack of the elements. The slight flare on the inside of the sideflanges insures a close and absolutely tight fit, not possible withperpendicular sides. lVith this construction, it is not necessary toprovide bolts or rivets to secure the tire on the rim, and the tire willbe held rigidly in place by the side flanges, thus avoiding the.weakening of the wood felly by the usual series of bolt open- 111 's.

The rounded contour of the tire provides a wearing surface in thethickest. portion of the tire at the. middle and all the blows on thewheel when in use are received by this middle portion, and the hard roadmaterial, stones and the like, gives a glancing, blow to the sideportions. The wheel rides much easier for this reason, and as thecontact surfacewith the ground is narrower, there is little. or nolikelihood of skidding. The rounded surface also avoids'the suction ofthe fiat tire with its much broader surface and less power is required,to propel the vehicle. As the wear is removed from the sides of thetire, they will not. wear there, and the. flanges prevent any seeping inof dirt or moisture between the tire and the felly- The life of thewheel is thus greatly prolonged, while a much neater and more attractivewheel in appearance is the result. Moreover as illustrated in Fig. 3',the effect of the hammering between the points 8, 8, when the tire is inuse causes the surface of l the metal to stretch in the direction shownby the arrows l0, 10. This flow of the metal has a tendency to cause theside flanges to take the position indicated by the dotted lines 9, 9. Inview of this result, applicant in combining the oval shaped tire withthe side flanges has accomplished an entirely novel result andhasselected the exact combination of parts with which this entirely noveland beneficial result is obtained.

Having thus described my invention, what 7 I claim as new and desire tosecure by-Letters Patent, is Y 1. I11 a vehicle Wheel, the combinationwith the felly, of a metallic tire thicker in cross section at themiddle than atthe sides and of oval contour for a wearing-surface tobring the wear upon the thickest portion of the tire, and provided witha channel forming side flanges to fit over the side edgesof the felly,with the metal adapted to spread on the surface when in use to cause theflanges to more firmly grip the side edges and'moisture between the tireand the rim.

2. In a vehicle wheel, the combination 1 with the felly, of a metallictire thicker in cross section at the middle than at the sides andof ovalcontour for a'wearing'surface to bring the wear upon the thickestportion of the tire, and provided with a channel forming side flanges,with inside flaring walls, to fit over the side edgesof the felly, withthe metal adapted to spread on the surface when in use to cause. theflanges to more lfirmly grip the side edges of the felly and .preventthe entrance of dirt and moisture between the tire and the rim. 3.. Inavehicle wheel, the: combination @with the felly, of. a metallic. tirethicker in icross. section at the middle than at the sides and of ovalcontour for a wearing surface to 9 bring the wear upon the thickestportion of lthe tire, and provided with a channel, the ichannel having aflat base and slightly flarling side walls, thebase to make closeconftact with the periphery of the felly and the side walls to engageover theside edges thereof, with the metal adapted to stretchl-on'thesurface when in use to cause the flanges to more firmlygrip the edges ofthe felly and prevent the entrance of' dirt and Copies of this patentmaybe obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner ofPatents;

Washington, D; G.

